International Credit Union Day 2021: Enabling digital finance in Tanzania | Wakandi

Credit unions have operated for years with a people-first approach. They have strengthened the local communities across the globe with affordable finance. Emerging as vital organizations for the unbanked, they symbolize people helping people philosophy while working towards the betterment of society.

Celebrating the cooperative spirit of credit unions, we at Wakandi participated as service providers in a four-day public event in Morogoro, Tanzania. The event was conducted to celebrate the occasion of International Credit Union (ICU) Day.

In 1948, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) decided to celebrate International Credit Union Day every third Thursday of October. The ICU day recognizes the achievements of credit unions and raises awareness of the credit union movement. The day also offers an opportunity to engage with members. 

With the event, we aimed to get in touch with various credit unions and show how Wakandi can help solve their problems. We organized an exhibition in the ‘tobacco processing industry’ ground. It was an opportunity to connect directly with the credit unions and listen to their challenges.

At the same time, we also partook in the conference in Edema Hotel in Morogoro. The conference was conducted by the Savings and Credit Co-Operative Union of Tanzania (SCCULT), an apex organization for SACCOs across Tanzania. It was dedicated to the financial strengthening of credit unions for the future.

Here is everything that happened at the event.

Day 1

• The team set up the exhibition on the ground to onboard credit union members. We got a chance to talk about SACCOs, their contribution to the informal economy. We also talked about our event and what they can expect from this exhibition.

Day 2

• The conference started with an opening remark from SCCULT. They talked about various challenges credit unions and how to solve them. They also talked about the impact of credit unions on the Tanzanian economy.
• Another crucial point of discussion was the taxation, auditing, and accounting practices of cooperative societies.
• In the exhibition, the team was graced by the presence of Halima Okash District Commissioner of Mvomero as the guest of honor.

• We presented our Wakandi solution to Halima to show what our solution can do to help cooperatives in Tanzania. Halima also gave the team good remarks on what we aim to do.
• People also visited Mikumi National Park near Morogoro in an activity organized by our team.

Day 3

• Games and fun activities were conducted to keep the participants engaged. Many of them were interested to know what Wakandi can do. We showed them what our solution looks like and how it can help them.
• Some participants used the Wakandi solution for a brief to see how things work. It was an opportunity for us to gain real-time feedback from actual users.

Day 4

• The last day of our event ended with remarks from our guest of honor.
• Discussions happened about the future prospects of cooperative societies and what role technology will play in the coming future.

The event was a notable opportunity for us to communicate directly with the local communities and show how we are moving forward with our aim to accelerate technology in the informal financial sector. We would like to thank every organization and credit union involved in the event to make it a great success.